OVER THE HILL
From: Funselektor
For: PC
★★★+
It’s a bit of a quirk of fate that I should get a look at new indie Over The Hill at the same time as I was playing Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Both games have you driving a vehicle around, but the similarities really end there, as Over The Hill is probably as little about speed as it is possible for any driving game to be.
Rather, it’s intended as a gaming simulation of the Platonic ideal or golden age of off-road motoring. Here’s a great big wilderness area to explore, and here’s you in your cute wee classically-styled 4WD; have at it. Head out towards a peak in the distance, park up and watch the sunrise, or just see if you can manage to put a car on top of that rock formation, all as the birds chirp and the river rushes noisily by. Call it “cosy driving”, perhaps.
Over The Hill’s large, varied maps (some replicating Canada, and some the very different terrain of Algeria) are not entirely devoid of a bit of gaming business — there are crates containing cosmetics to find, challenge trails that lead you through tricky terrain, cabins that act as fast travel points to blaze a trail to and the odd fellow enthusiast stuck somewhere and in need of a tow. But each of these is really just aimed at getting you to pick a point and set out towards it through the attractive terrain, rendered nicely in a colourful minimalist art style and with a big emphasis on lighting.
That’s not to say that’s not interesting in itself. Driving around off road throws up all the challenges you could expect from … driving around off road. Rain reduces traction and nightfall reduces visibility. Expect to lose your grip on gravelly slopes, drown your engine trying to ford a river, or get your downhill approach wrong and end up lying on your side wedged between two boulders. Fortunately your trusty winch can pull you out of trouble, but if you’re hopelessly stuck — or take a wrong turn that becomes a, uh, rapid uncontrolled descent — you can respawn at a cabin of your choice.
Such are the terrain challenges that there are times when the generally chill action comes to resemble more a patience-tester such as Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. At one point I spent what seemed like a week trying to escape a swamp, any trees frustratingly beyond winch range.
But then the journey is the point, as they say (is that an elk on your right? You should probably take a photo — and can), and as you go on you can earn extra tools to get you out of a jam, like a jack or a couple of handy planks to put down (sure could have used those in the swamp). There’s also the option to have up to three friends join you in convoy to head out together (who’s got the marshmallows?), so any frustrations can be shared — or at the very least, you can get a tow.
Generally though, as you chug along through all the purty to see what’s round the corner, Over The Hill is a delightfully Zen time — a good option for when you need to touch grass but are stuck inside.